Fuse for projectiles.



H. MAXIM.

FUSE FOR PROJEGTILES. APPLIUA'TION ULEB APL 2. 1897.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

In V

r rrr@ HUDSON MAXIM, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

Fusie non raosncrians.

No; somos.

Specication of Letters atent. application mea April 2, 1897. sain No.630,399.

Patented nee. aa, isos.'

To all whom 'it may concern: Be it known that HUDSON MAXIM, a citi.n

Zen of the United States of America, and residing at the city and countyof London,y

England, have invented certain new and usefill which the following is aspecication. A

' My invention relates to shell fuses and more particularly to thatclass of safety fuses whereln provislon is made to protect the charge ofthe shell against premature or accidental explosion of the detonatingmaterial ofthe fuse. v

The object of the invention is to provide Aa fuse of the characterdescribed whichi shall normally be inoperative to explode the charge ofthe shell even though the detonating materialin the fuse should beaccidentally exploded, but which shall, by the act of discharging thegun, be automatically rendered o erative to explode the shellcharge'when t e Hi ht of the shell is arrested by impact 4with t etarget or otherwise.

With this object in view, the invention consists-of a movable detonator,combined with a main explosive fuse \harge, means retaining thedetonator in a position of safety with res ect to the main fuse charge,to' gether with means releasing the detonator by the act of throwing theprojectile from the .gu Furthermore, the invention consists of certaindetails of construction and combination of parts hereinafter describedand then spe cically pointed out in the claims- 'My inventive idea mayreceive various mechanical expressions, and I have shown one.

form-which the invention may assume in the accompanying drawings, but itis to. be understood t at such drawings are for the purpose ofillustration only and are not to be taken as defining the limits of theinvention;

In said drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my improved fusein ace in a shell; Fig.'2 is a cross-sectionalview on the line 2--2 ofFig. 1; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectionalview of the fuse.

In the drawings I have shown the fuse as.

inclosed in shell composed of a forward sec- ,tion 1', and a rearwardsection 2, united by a tllesco ic joint 3, and provided with a suita echarged with any suitable explosive, here shown as compressed ,wet guncotton 6,

lacedboth forward of and to the rear of the use 15, thus preferablylocating the fuse cenmprovements in Fuses for Projectiles; ofv

riving ring 4. The shell may be trally within thel shell, that is to sayat the point surrounded by the driving ring 4.

'Ihe guide tube, 16, containing the' plunger fuse body, 17, ofdetonative material, is sur rounded' by an exterior tube or chamber, 1S,

Aproviding an air space about the body of the etonative material, thewhole being 'eurrounded by the body of com ressed wet v l cotton, 6,with which the s ell is filled. It will be seen that the guide tube 16is entirely closed throughout its extent, so that, in case of prematureor accidental explosion ofthe detonative material 17 in the rear endofthe tube v16, the flame could not be communicated to the drygun-cotton in chamber 19, nor would the shock of ex losion be directlycommunicated to the walls of the chamber 18. I he function oftheexterior chamber or air space intervening, between the detonativematerial and the body of wet guncotton is to provide a free space intowhich the detonative charge, 17, may expend or exhaust itself to such anextent that, after disrupting its containing tube and expanding into theouter chamber, it will, even 1f it then disrupts the walls of the outertube or outer chamber, not ossess sufficient detonative power to ex ploe the surroundin wet guncotton. 'lhis arrangement el'ectua y providesagainst any danger from premature explosion of the detonative charge.

At the forward portion of the fuse, and within a chamber, 19, preferablylocated at about the point encircled by the driving ring, is contained apriming charge of compressed 'dry guncotton, 20, and the tube or guide,16,

within and through which the plunger fuse body, 17 of detonativecompound passes, is made to enter the chamber containing the dryguncotton, in such wise that,`upon the Striking of the projectile upon aresisting object, retarding its motion, the plunger body of detonativecompound will fly forward into the chamber containing the dry guncotton,20, where it strikes and is detonated by the pin, 21, detonating alsothe dry guncotton, which, in turn, detonates the entire mass of wetguncotton, 6. The plunger body, 17 of detonative lsubstance referablyconsists of a ulminate compound escribed in my United States Patent No.529334. The capsule 22, containing the plunger body of detonativefulminate compound is Vprovided at its forward portion with a percussioncap 23, and under the percussion cap, and between the same and the bodyof the fulminate compound, is preferably inter osed a layer or body ofdry guncotton 24, t e Hash4 of Which, from the explosion of thepercussion cap, secures a more violent and elfective detonation of thefulminate compound.

'lhe capsule or container 22, for the body of fulminate compound is madesufficiently strong to resist the'shock of the propelling powder charge,that is to say, the shock of initial acceleration` of the projectile;and the fulminate container is held in place and prevented from movingforward toward the chamber 19,`containing the dry guncotton, by means ofstrong longitudinal flat springs, 25, with tongues 32, projecting intothe guide tube 16, bearing upon the forward end of the said containerand arranged to hold it firmly in position, and absolutely to preventits dislodgment by any handling of the projectile, however roughly,prior to its being thrown from the gun. lhe said springs are arrangedand adapted to release the fulminate container only by centrifugal forcedue to the rapid rotation of the projectile shell, effected by itspassage through the bore of the gun. See dotted lines in F ig. 3. At therear of the body of fulminate compound is provided a spiral spring 26,or other suitable device, by which, upon the receding' of the retainings rings 25, by the rotation of the shell, the p unger body of fulminatecompound will be forced slightly forward, and the return of theretaining, springs prevented, until the shell strikes some object ofresistance, thus permitting the plunger body of detonative compound tothen Vmove freely forward. toward and into the chamber containin the dryguncotton, to explode the project' e. 'lhe container may be providedwith a weighted rear end, 14, to increasethe force of the impact of theercussion cap, 23, on the in, 21.

T e chamber containing the. ry guncotton is preferably constructed withpartitions, 27, crossing it at right angles to each other, thus dividingthe chamber into four or more parts or spaces, into each of which may beplaced a body of dry guncotton. This arrangement of partitions eectuallyprevents the rotation of the projectile about the dry guncotton, and theignition of it b friction due to the rapid rotation of the s ell in itsiiightl from the gun. The said walls or partitions furthermore serve thepurpose of supporting or strengthening thewalls of the shell at thepoint encircled by the driving ring, thereby permitting greater pressureto be employed to shrink the driving ring upon the shell. Thesepartitions, 27, serve to further strengthen the shell in this region, toresist penetration of a quick-firing gun shell which might accidentallystrike the projectile in Y this region, and the strong lateral wallsfurther s erve a useful purpose in slightly resistlng disruption, orserving in a slight degree as tampmg of the dry guncotton, and therebydirecting more strongly the force of its eX- plosion or detonativeinfluence to the wet guncotton, 6, located at front and rear of the drygunootton chamber. A- portion, 28, of each cross partition or web is cutaway from the guide tube 16 near the center ofthe -dry guncottonchamber, so that less force will be required to break down the Wallsofthe guide tube and to effect the detonation of the dry guncotton.

The chamber containin the dry guncot ton is preferably separate from theody of wet Vguncotton, at both front and rear, by' strong partitions, 29and 30, the rearward wall or partition, 30, being, preferably, thestronger and thicker, to effectually resist disruption from anyaccidental explosion of the body of fulminate compound at the rear ofit, and the consequent accidental ignition or firing by it of the dryguncotton, thus securely providing that, in order to ignite the dryguncotton, the body of fulminate compound must necessarily pass forwardthrough the said rear wall of the guncotton chamber before its explosionwould bel able to ignite the dry guncotton charge.

While I have herein shown my improved fuse as centrally located withinthe burstin charge of the shell, it is not to be understoo that -myinvention is' limited to a fuse thus located, as I may advantageouslyplace it in other positions with relation to the shell or its containedcharge vwithout in the least de-y parting from the spirit of myinvention.

What I claim is: y

1. In a fuse, a chamber containing the m'ain fuse charge, a secondchamber, a primary charge, a closed guide tube lying partly Within eachof the two chambers and having the primary charge in 'the part withinthe second chamber, and retaining means moved upon the discharge of thegun to release the primary charge.

2. The combination with an explosive shell, of a detonative fuseconsisting of a and a charge of explosive material therein 'withacentral passage or opening into the body of said charge, a secondchamber, a detonative body supported in a closed guide tube connectingsaid chambers.

3. In combination with a projectile, a fuse consisting of a movable bodyof 'detonative compound and a 'fixed body of detonative compoundpositioned forward of the said movable body, a closed guide tube Withinwhich said movable body is located, the said movable body being adaptedto move forward in said tube to the said fixed body and to be detonatedtherein.

4. In a fuse for a projectile, the combination of a det'onative compoundcarried in a suitable capsule which is contained in a shell or casing,with a second shell or casing inclosing the first and forming anexpansion lspace between the two casings to receive the gases of exlosion Yupon a premature explosion of sai compound.

5. A shelbfuse consisting of a fuse casing divided into/two chambers, aclosed guide tube extending into both of said chambers, a large mass ofdetonative material in one chamber and a small plunger body ofdetonative material detacha ly secured in that portion of the guide tubelying within the other chamber.

6. In a Jruse', the combination of a movable detonative compoundcontainer, a tube to guide the said container in its movement, one ormorestops retaining the said container in its normal position, and aspring adapted to move the said container forward on its release by thesaid stops, whereby the container is freedffrom the stops and can moveforward in the guide tube when the projectile strikes the target. l

7. In a fuse, the combination of a movable i detonator, a. mainexplosive charge, and means retaining the detonator 1n a rearwardposition of safety with respect to the main explosive charge butreleasing the detonator by the act of throwing the projectile from thegun, together with means advancing the detonator toward the mainexplosive charge when the gun is red, whereby the container 'is freedfrom the stops and can move forward in the guide tube when theprojectile strikes the target.

8. In a fuse, the combination of a main explosive charge, a guide tubewhose forward end is approximated to said charge, a plunger body ofdetonative material in the rear portion of said tube, a spring tendingto advance said plunger body in said tube and towards said main charge,and centrifugally released retaining devices holding said plunger bodyagainst the tension of the spring till the gun is iirecl. t

9. In a fuse, a chamber containing the main fuse charge, a secondchamber, a primary charge, a closed guide tube lying partly f withineach of the two chambers, and having the primary charge in the partwithin the second chamber, and retaining means for the primary chargeadapted tc release the same yupon the discharge of the gun.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name 1n the presence of twowitnesses.

HUDSON MAXIM.

Witnesses:

- W. H. GRAHAM, A. L. DURBAN.

